This blog is dedicated to all the gorditos, chubbies, huskies, bears, afrentados and foodies that love to eat delicious food and can't wait to hear where they should go next to get their grub on! I'm going to give you the 411 on all the places I love to frequent and all the places I seek out, like the culinary explorer that I am. I'm going to be real and tell what I feel and think. Bring on the comments and most importantly bring on the FOOD!

Saturday, April 9, 2016

A Spoonful of Sofrito: Americans Try Haitian food for the first time.

A Spoonful of Sofrito: A Pinch of advice that will add a lot of flavor to your life.

Americans Try Haitian food for the first time.

Sofrito Lovers,

Griot, Cabrit fricassee, and Lambi. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you've never had Haitian food! Haitian cuisine is a combination of African, French, and Taino flavors that tantalize and mesmerize your taste buds. One of the most delicious Caribbean cuisines, Haitian food is usually a mystery to most Americans.

Below, I've posted a tasting video from Buzzfeed, which features Americans tasting Haitian food for the first time. Usually, these videos are hilarious because Americans consider anything outside of fast food culture as "exotic" or "unusual!" The participants in this series are typically afraid to try new things, but in this video you see what happens when you're open minded and most importantly open "palated!"

It was wonderful to see people experiencing a new cuisine and loving it. Again, I love these videos because they can be really funny, but I also love it when people gain an appreciation for something new. Variety is the spice of life, people! Fear and hesitation keep us small and uncultured! Go out there and try something new! Your palate will thank you!

Why was I smiling?

Who is Ben The Pen Ramos?

I'm a cute, husky, Boricua lover of food and liberation. I educate, organize and moblize for various revolutionary causes in between having meals at, what I think are, some of the best restaurants, cafes, bars, cuchifritos, chimichurri trucks, and taquerias in the city.
I have never studied culinary arts/sciences; I am not a professional critic, nor do I have one of those super sensitive palettes that can divine every ingredient and spice in a meal.
My only qualification is that I am a fat ass that loves to eat food and share his opinion.
I watch alot of cooking shows on PBS, have watched every episode of Top Chef on the Bravo Channel and walk around the city aimlessly until I spot a restaurant that looks good!
I cannot cook to save my life, but I can eat with the best of them! Enjoy my blog!

Sofrito In My Soul

Sofrito in my soul, because I was lucky enough to be raised on delicious home made Puerto Rican criolla (typical food).

I learned to love food in my Mami's cocina (kitchen). I learned to appreciate the sacred, mystical, and transformative art of cooking and, most importantly, reveled in the epic journey that is eating and tasting!

Sofrito was the building block of every meal Mami masterfully crafted in her Five star Kitchen. Sofrito is a fragrant sauce and wet seasoning comprised of onions, garlic, pepper (either small sweet red peppers or green bell peppers), oregano, cumin, bay leaf, oil, and culantro puréed together in a blender.

A blend of African, Taino and Spanish culture all in one delicious green potion that provides the incredible explosion of flavor in every bite of Puerto Rican food. Whether it is used to marinade proteins, added to soup or stew stocks, or to flavor a caldero (pot) of beans, Sofrito is that little bit of Puerto Rican pride we add to all of our dishes.Sofrito in my soul, because through food, I travel the world, but despite however far I go, I always come back to my Mami's kitchen in Harlem; our little piece of Puerto Rico on W139th Street!